Nike - the Details

It's one week post-Nike, so I'd better add some race day details!

Our Nike Spirit Squad had a blast! We caravaned at 6:30am from the Lafayette BART station -- in the pitch black. The drive into the city was a breeze; parking, however, not so much. The Avenues are always a gamble, and around 7am, "normal" people are sleeping, so street spaces are less than plentiful. After lots of circling, much patience, and a few pleas, we all finally found places. Phew!

We then picked a great spot along the course, just inside Golden Gate Park near the Dutch Windmill -- right past mile 11. At first the runners going by were somewhat few and far between, but they were fast! Gradually their numbers grew until there was a sea of people streaming by, many of them wearing purple.

This is going to sound weird, but I can honestly say I've never seen so many bananas being eaten, and I've certainly never stared at so many people's chests before! The bananas were clearly popular swag from the water stop, and we had to kick many a peel out of the way lest runners slip on them; seriously. As for staring at people's chests, well, I couldn't help it! (See, you always knew there was something strange about me.) I was trying to find people's names on their jersey because I know it can make a huge difference to hear someone cheer for you by name. So I tried!

In addition to screaming our lungs out, we rang cow bells and jingle/Santa bells and held signs. It was a blast! I learned that it's actually pretty hard to pick runners out of the pack. Most of our teammates saw us on the sidelines before we saw them running by. And then in a flash, they were gone! I heard later, when we met up with a few of them at the finisher's tent, that our cheering gave them a boost of energy and motivation. Hooray!

Following our stint on the sidelines, Dene and I jumped into the action at the TNT finisher's tent volunteering to hand out food. At least it was warmer in there since the tent blocked the wind. When our shift first started, the fast marathoners were coming by, and while they looked tired, they looked happy. When I said, "Congratulations!" they smiled back and thanked me. As time went on, however, finishers began to look more and more haggard. Some were limping, others were on the verge of tears. My "Congratulations" brought mixed reactions. Some would find a smile buried within their pain, while others just scowled.

Either way, I could sympathize; completing a marathon is an emotional feat, and I remember well how volatile I was in San Diego. In fact, watching the slower finishers come by at the end of Nike reminded me why I'm running 13.1 miles this fall instead of 26.2 -- because it's really ridiculously hard on your body and it's an incredibly challenging thing to do! I have so much admiration for marathoners, no matter how quickly or slowly they go. Their feat is simply astounding. Maybe, just maybe I'll do one again, but for now, I'll stick with the half. :-)

2:16:25, or Hold Onto Your Hats!

I ran my first half- marathon this morning! It took 2:16:25, about 10:25 mile/min.

Not too bad, particularly given the hills! That’s about the pace what I wanted to run, and now the quest is on to beat my time later this fall in San Antonio, where the course is flat.

Probably my biggest challenge today (other than persevering at the end, when my legs just wanted to slow down), was keeping my hat on my head. Sounds silly, I know, but it flew off twice -- once on the Golden Gate Bridge and again near the end of the race on 27^th Avenue. Fortunately, I didn’t get mowed down trying to retrieve it and nobody stepped on it. Phew! My hair isn’t quite long enough to be in a ponytail by itself, and what does fit in a hair band is pretty tiny. So sans hat, I would’ve been wiping sweat and hair out of my face – ick.

Come to think of it, I was also dexterously challenged. Just before mile 12 I felt my energy level drop (despite having gooed it up at the halfway point), so I whipped a mini-Clif bar that I had gotten at the expo yesterday out of my Camelback (love that thing), but then I couldn’t open it! Although my core was warm, my hands were fairly numb and, even using my teeth, I couldn’t grab the edge of the wrapper to pull hard enough to open it. I feared the bar flying into the air and hitting someone or, let’s face it, landing on the ground where I couldn’t eat it. Well, the bar did hit the ground, but not before I got it open. Disaster averted! I finally managed an opening large enough to work the bar through. Next time, I’ll open the bar before I ever leave the house and cut it into pieces to facilitate eating it.

Overall, the race was fun and really well organized. I loved that we started in staggered waves (versus San Diego, where we were segmented into waves but everyone started together). The only thing that didn’t work very well was after crossing the finish line. They herded us into a narrow corral to hand out medals and it was complete gridlock. You couldn’t move anywhere and, since I had somehow managed to “sprint” the end, I needed to keep moving so my muscles wouldn’t seize up on me. Alas, I was literally trapped among a sea of sweaty runners.

But we managed to inch our way forward and out, find a bus and get back to the car. After a stop at Starbucks for coffee and the restroom, we were off. Amazing, I was home by 10am!